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@Knittingmommy the updated image has a slightly different angle showing more of the other hand based on feedback from @Tynkere, also I've dropped the lighting a bit as it was washing out some of the skin tone.
Thanks a lot @Knittingmommy!
Here's the current state of my submission:
I'm having a lot of trouble with getting the DOF right - I want the images of the dancers in the mirror to be nice and crisp, but i can't seem to figure out how. I'm not even sure if the issue is my camera settings!
Help would be deeply appreciated!
@DStuffle
On a hi-rez monitor that really made a difference. Didn’t get in on the beginning, but seems you’ve done everything suggested like sheriff badge and format. Just noticed, but cool how you got just a hint of his eye under the hat’s shadow. Nothing left not-pick. Best wishes on it. :)
@LaPetite
Surface material on the mirrors? How far away they are?
Mirror surface I like to use is “Wagasani’s Mirror Shader” from ShareCG. Much better imo than some that came with store products! : 0 !
Granted, the wine bottle is very close.
Anyway, dancers in the mirror a novel idea. I wouldn’t have thought of having no real mid-ground area and the dancers blurred in the foreground. A nice sense of movement that way (for me at least.) Background usually just that-- a backdrop. You made it the object of interest! Cool! ;)
@KnittingMommy (or anyone else)
Hopefully not running out of time this month. Things have gotten a little hectic.
Thought occurs to me there might not be a single answer to camera question. So many other things are involved? Focal Length, f-stop, etc.?
Obviously the farther away an object is from the Focal Distance ‘ball’ the more out of focus it will be.
Amazing the horse can be sharpened & cleaned up in photoshop at all. Requested screen shot shows how far away horse is.
So... To save time guessing, does anyone know if there is a specific number-- how far away from focal distance ball ?
Thanks for reading
--Bruce
@Tynkere
Everything inside of your far and near panes, assuming that is the DOF planes, will be in focus. Bring the far plane in until it is just behind the horse and it will still be in focus but more of the back will be out of focus. Bring the far plane in front of the horse and it will then be out of focus. Where the focal distance ball is controls where the sharp area is within the DOF planes. Moving it back and forwards changes the distance between the planes and where the sharp area is computed from. Changing the focal length of the camera also changes the distance between the dof planes and moving the camera back or forwards and changing the focal distance also has an effect on where the dof planes will start and end. The F/stop will also increase or decrease the amount of the view in focus again depending on the other settings this can be greater or less. It is a balance between all three that will give the best result.
Was hit with a second idea last night
@Tynkere Yep, @Fishtales beat me to it. What he said. Bring your box in so it's just behind the horse. I'm not sure grids matter here. It's all about the camera and where that box is.
@LaPetiteVerita I don't think I've ever tried using DOF like that on a mirror. It's an interesting conundrum. I'll see if I can play with it tonight when I get back and try to give you an answer later.
@LaPetiteVerita Still sussing this out. I'll try to get an answer to you by tomorrow afternoon.
@Knittingmommy - Thanks! I have no idea what the problem even is. The weird thing is, I've snapped enough pictures of dance practices in real life studios to know that getting the camera to focus on the mirror is actually easier than getting it to focus on the dancers!
@Tynkere - hmmm, I never thought about the mirror's materials. I'm just using the default shader that comes with the product. I'll have to try and check out the sharecg shader you mentioned.
I only got to glance back over the thread, but it looks like there are some awesome images. I can't wait to have time to look at them more closely!
@Shinji
Ha! That’s not the barrel of his gun, but the bullet? “Last thing his target saw was...” Always fun to see what you come up with. ;)
@LaPetite
Hope you don’t mind me playing with this. I like puzzles, but maybe I'm a nerd.
Not trying to play ‘Mr. Expert’ or anything.
Possible, but at the expense of moving the near plane closer to the dancers? Consequence they will be less blurred?
Two renders? : /
Be interesting to see how someone like KnittingMommy (who knows what she is doing-- unlike me... ) solves the puzzle.
mirror was blurry until moved near plane closer to minoraur - now he is too much in focus
detail from the mirror fwiw...
===
@Fishtales and @KnittingMommy
Thanks. Was hoping there might be an easy rule of thumb for how far away from focal distance but guess not. Still, nothing ventured nothing gained.
Thank you for allowing me to ask questions here.
best
--Bruce
Greetings all. I am way late to the party, but here is what I have been working on the past week. I created this with DAZ Studio and some post in GIMP.
Depth of field is something I am weak on so this has been a great learning experience for me. So much more to learn too.
There are some great renders in this thread. Nice work everyone.
Nice one dtrscbrutal, if I didn't know better you've taken to the shadows like I have as of late.
@LaPetiteVerita You need to increase the DOF distance by the distance of the dancers to the mirror, since you want to focus on their reflection, not on the mirror plane itself.
In the attached image, The camera focus is on the right mirror plane 2m away from the characters. The near mirror on the left is at 1m distance. Since the light needs to travel to the mirror and back to the characters, that adds up to a 2m distance for the left mirror and therefore produces a sharp reflection. In theory the borders of the left plane should be blurry and the border of the right one crisp, but that can't be seen in this low quality screenshot :-)
@LaPetiteVerita So, I set up a studio with a mirror. The only ones I have are 3Delight sets. I'm not sure which set that is that you used. I converted everything to Iray and started setting up a render. One thing to note is that mirrors converted from 3DL to Iray are not great. You're better off using a mirror shader made for Iray. My first render had the figures in the mirror blurry no matter what I did.
Second render with and Iray shader on the mirror without DOF had a sharp image in the mirror. Third render had the figures in the foreground blurry and the figure in the mirror still sharp because of how I had the DOF positioned. I think this is what you were going for? The Iray mirror shader gave me sharp images in the mirror in both the version with the DOF and without the DOF. Having the right mirror shader really helps.
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but I've been fighting an ear infection and it's hard to concentrate.
Which set are you using and was it converted to Iray or does the mirror have Iray shaders already? The shader might not be good enough for what you want and another one might be better.
@punky - THANKS! I started a render using your advice, and after 7 hours the image made it to 60%. It's so much sharper! It's still not where I want it to be, but now it's a matter of adjusting - whereas before, I was starting to wonder if the concept was even viable.
@knittingmommy - I hope you're starting to feel better! Ear infections suck; I'm prone to them, and they can really hurt. Quick tip for alleviating the pain - put your pillow in the dryer for like 5 minutes, and then put your head down on the warm pillow. It won't help you get better any faster, but the dry heat can do a lot for the pain. Just make sure it's dry heat - warm compresses are good for sinus infections (and for jaw pain, which can be caused by an ear infection), but you don't want to put a wet washcloth over your ear.
I'm using a dance studio that was released a few months back; it's iray only. The mirror surface is whatever shader came with the set; I'm definitely curious to see what kind of a difference using a different shader makes. I suspect that making the floor less glossy might help, too - that's a LOT of light bouncing around, and I can't imagine that helps the image stay sharp. This month's contest might be over, but I'm excited to keep playing with this one!
This challenge is now closed, see you all soon for Octobers topic :D
Thanks Shinji Ikari 9th.
I like the action and cinematic quality of your renders. Well done.
September 2018
Showcased Participants for the September Depth of Field Challenge
In Focus
For this Showcase we looked at the artist who we felt best used Depth of Field in a way that made the artwork almost feel like photography.
For those reasons we have selected Sun2x to showcase
What a Stand Out
For this Showcase we took a look at who we felt created an image that used Depth of Field in a way that made the main subject the focal point and made them "pop"..
The New User we felt best showed that this month was Hylas
In the Deep
For this Showcase we took a look at who we felt created an image that used Depth of Field in a way that made the environment seem vast and sweeping.
The New User we felt best showcased those things this month was dstuffle
New User - Welcome
bubblecloud
And an Extra Thank You to Fishtales who was so helpful to everyone this past month. THANK YOU!
And THANK YOU to everyone who participated this month. Everyone did an incredible job and it was a pleasure looking through all the lovely artwork
Congrats to all the showcased participants!
Congratulations to everyone!